Gregor the Overlander: Gregor and the Prophecy of Grave
by Jesse Dennett
Summary: Gregor is surprised by the visit of a young underlander who is bound to take him back to the Underland.
1. Chapter 1

Gregor bolted upright in his bed, soaked in sweat. One of his many recurring nightmares of the Underland, a war stricken world filled with a plethora of oversized creatures calling it their home, had awoken him. He sat there panting, sweat dripping off his chin.

His dream had seemed so real, indistinguishable from reality and more painful than he hoped it could be. He had seen faces of all the dead creatures he had failed, bats, rats, humans, mice and roaches. All screaming for him to return, to return to the land he had abandoned so long ago.

He dragged his scar ridden legs over the side of his small bed. There really wasn't much point in trying to go to sleep now. He looked over at his alarm clock, it read three eighteen. He might as well start getting ready for the day.

He quietly opened his door and walked into the bathroom in complete darkness. Even now that he had left the Underland, he still found many uses for echolocation. This was a skill that a very large and not particularly friendly rat had drummed into his head some 3 years ago.

He closed the door to the bathroom and flipped the light switch on. He had to close his eyes to shield them from the light. He walked over and turned on the shower, strippedd off his sweaty underwear and let the warm water envelope him.

Flashes of the underland came to him, pictures of his bond, Ares, the bat who had given his life so that gregor could take the life of a white monstrous rat known as the Bane. flashes of Luxa, the woman whom gregor had fallen in love with over the course of their many adventures together. He missed her so much, her light yet haughty laugh, the way she stood, tall and strong. The way she held gregor tight when she just didn't know what else to do. Oh what gregor wouldn't give just to hold her for a few moments.

He shook himself, frustrated that he had broken his rule. He had a rule, not unlike the one he had when his dad had disappeared, that he would not think about Luxa. He could not allow himself the fantasy of her because that would make reality just that much more painful to return to.

He shut off the water and stepped out of the shower and dripped onto the floor for awhile. Today was a friday he thought, wait no it was thursday. He didn't know, he hardly kept track of any sort of time at this point. It really didn't matter. No matter how much time past. No matter how much land separated him and the underland. There was no way he could just forget, forget all that had happened, all he had lost and learned to love.

He wrapped himself in a towel and walked quietly back to his room. He got dressed and walked into the kitchen. The time on the microwave now read four seventeen. He should probably just go out and do his chores. Gregor's family now lived on a small farm in Viriginia, it wasn't much but he had come to enjoy farm life, even though the fact that he was miles away from the girl he loved made him keep a deeper resentment for it.

He quietly did his chores and went back into the house. Almost everyone was awake now, except for Boots.

"Good morning Honey," his mom said, smiling at him."How'd you sleep?" she could probably tell by the dark violet half-circles under his eyes that he hadn't slept very well.

"Alright" he mumbled taking a seat at thee kitchen table. He just sat there for awhile not really hearing the things that were going on around him. He thought that somebody might have said his name but he wasn't sure.

Next thing he knew his dad set a large plate of scrambled eggs before him.

"Thanks." he mumbled, picking up the fork he had set beside him.

"Everything OK?" he dad said, the worry evident in his voice and face.

"Yeah Dad, I'm fine." I said, knowing that I was not fine. It didn't seem as if

Anything would ever be fine again. Not after all that had happened, not after all that he had lost. He quietly nibbled at his eggs, though he was quite hungry after his chores he just didn't seem to be able to eat. After about half an hour of sitting there eating bits of eggs, his mother came in:

"You done, honey?" she ask

"Yeah mom, thanks" he said setting his plate by the sink. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to check the date. Saturday october seventeenth.

Almost exactly 3 years ago he had returned from the underland, not optimistic but hopeful. This hope soon turned into fear, fear that one day he would be fine with leaving the underland forever, fine with leaving the place that he had learned to call home, and forget all about it. He knew this would never happen but he could decide if that was what he wanted, or not. He had decided that he didn't want to forget the underland and since he wasn't going to be anytime soon, it seemed like the right decision.

Gregor slumped down onto the couch and switch on the TV. He pretended to watch TV a lot of the time when he just wanted to think. His family worried when he just sat in his room all day, not hearing from him and they should be, but he couldn't help but feel frustrated at them. They were there reason that he left the underland, they were the reason he couldn't be with her. They had put their happiness in front of his and forced him to just come along for the ride.

Despite his yearning to be in the underland, Virginia wasn't all that bad, he had one friend: Sam, he didn't seem to mind the fact that he had scares covering his hands. He didn't mind that gregor just didn't want to talk about how they got there, and for this he was grateful so they got along quite well.

Gregor and Sam agreed to meet today, they had decided on getting lunch at a little diner in town. Him and Sam had gotten pretty close over the years. He had thought even about telling him all about the underland, but he enjoyed just having someone that didn't pity. Someone that just treated him normally,not like a wounded animal they had to care for.

Gregor grabbed his jacket and headed out the front door.

"Where are you going?" his dad asked.

"Lunch with Sam, I'll be back by 6." and with that he ducked out the door. He enjoyed walking in the forest, it reminded him of his venture for a cure that didn't exist, through a jungle of flesh eating plants. Not just the fact that it reminded him of the underland though, it seemed calm and serene, the occasional buzz of a fly or the chirp of a bird made it all the more enjoyable.

It made him sad, the fact that he could only feel happy when he was alone in the overland. But he supposed there really wasn't anything to be done about it.

Gregor walked silently walked for an hour to the diner, as he was opening the doors he looked up at the clock over the counter, it read six-fourteen. Sam would wouldn't mind that he was late though, he probably wouldn't even notice. Gregor looked around for sam and found him sitting in a corner booth. Gregor plopped himself down in the seat across from him.

"How you doing." he said

"Ok I guess, you?" gregor asked.

"Same, you had someone in here looking for you by the way. Said her name was lucie or something like that, she was super pale too. You know her?" he said looking up at him anticipatingly.

"yeah , i think so." said gregor, a shiver went down his spine. Could Luxa really be here? After all this time could she really be coming so see him.

The he realized, she would have come long ago most likely if she had just wanted to see him, something bad was happening down in the underland and she had come for help.

"Where did she go?" he asked sam. Right as he was about to open his mouth to answer, a finger touched him on his should, he whipped around the see the smiling face of an underlander, but it wasn't Luxa.

"Hi." gregored stuttered, somewhat disappointed.

"My apologies Gregor, but we must leave with haste." she said in a hushed voice so Sam couldn't here. Gregor was taken somewhat aback by this. Why had they come for him? Had there been another war, had someone died?

" Oh, I didn't know you guys were in town. Yeah sorry my mom must have forgotten to tell me. Uh, Sam this is my cousin." gregor said turning him. The girl seemed a little confused but saw that it was just so he could leave without causing too much suspicion.

" hello, I am lucia." she said holding her hand out which Sam weakly shook. Gregor could tell that she was doing her best to mimic the overland speech as best she could

"Nice to meet you." he said " I guess you better be getting home if you've got company." he didn't seem to mind that fact that he would now be eating alone. At that moment gregor was so thankful that he had chosen such a strange person to be his best friend, but it wasn't like he was a walk in the park either.

"Yeah, sorry, we can do something on thursday is you want." said gregor turning to leave. Sam gave a small nod in his direction as his huge platter of hashbrowns and eggs were set before him. They hurriedly walked out of the diner and a few more blocks just for good measure. They stopped by a bench and sat down.

"I am sorry to have intruded on your life so, but we are in dire need of your assistance." she said with a worried look in her eyes.

"Wait, who sent you here, and how did you know i was having lunch with sam?" he asked.

"No one, save the queen knows that i am here. As for your meal, i do not know,she informed me where and when you would be." she said rising to her feet. "As i said before, we must proceed with haste, i have supplies and rations so you need not worry." and with that she took off at a jog. Man this was really bad, what would his parents think, would they come after him? Probably not, but he knew that when he got back he'd probably be grounded for the rest of his life, for real this time.

After a few minutes of jogging and about thirty gaping mouths at the sight of a nearly translucent, purple eyed girl, they stopped and turned down an alley. There was a large object covered in a sheet which she promptly yanked off to reveal an old pick-up truck. She climbed in the passenger's seat and bckled her seatbelt.

Gregor was still standing in the alley in disbelief, was he really just going to up and leave his family to go back to the underland? He sighed, there really wasn't much of a choice. He climbed into the driver's seat and started the car then turned to the girl.

"You ever been in a car before?" he almost shouted over the noise of the loud engine. She shook her head and started to look a little green. Her knuckles were with as she gripped onto the sides of her seat.

"There is an entrance….to the underland….. No more than a few miles north of here." she gasped, seemingly going into a panic attack. It was strange, the underlanders could see death and destruction and ride around on bats thousands of feet in the are, but when they got in a car, they froze.

Gregor nodded and turned out of the alley, knocking over a few trash cans in the process. He had only driven a car a few times and that was with his dad on an empty road miles away from any cars. This however was much different. He tried his best with turn signals and stopping and such but it must have been a miracle that had been pulled over at least 5 times.

After they had gotten out of town the roads were nearly empty so it made it quite a bit easier. After about 10 minutes lucia silently pointed to a grouping of trees off the road. Gregor didn't see any road to it so he just went for it. As soon as the tire touched the grass they were bouncing all over the place, gregor couldn't help but laugh but when he saw lucia's face he immediately stopped the car and shut it off.

"I'm so sorry." he said

"It is fine." she said as she opened the door. It must have not been fine because as soon as she opened the door she puked. Gregor felt terrible. After she stopped she wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her shirt and quietly walked into the forest, gregor not far behind.

After about two or three minutes she stopped at a large boulder and brushed away a few branches that were placed at the base. When she was finished it revealed a large opening about 3 feet by three feet.

"Are you ready?" she asked crouching down to the hole. Gregor looked back and drank in the forest, he hoped not but he knew that this could very well be the last time he saw this place whether he died down here or not.

"As ready as I'll ever be." he replied letting out a sigh and with that she disappeared down the hole. Gregor crouched down looking into the blackness, he heard a strikingly familiar voice call out to him: "Jump Gregor." that was all he needed, with that he fell into the dark void known as the Underland.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, I wasn't happy with the ending of this chapter so I revised it a bit, hope you enjoy!**

"Oh, gosh." Gregor muttered. Tumbling through darkness for the…, oh he couldn't remember how many times he had fallen like this. All Gregor knew was that no matter how many times he fell like this, he would never get used to it. But to his relief he was on top of a bat in seconds. Gregor landed on his back hard, he tried to refill his lungs but found that he couldn't. After a few seconds air rushed into his lungs and he let out an audible gasp. He sat up on the back and smacked his head into something hard.

"Ah…. stay put Gregor, we are not safe here." a familiar voice said to him. After a moment i realized that it was luxa!

"Luxa!" he said sitting up.

"Stay put!" she barked, hand the front of his shirt and slamming him down onto the back of the bat. Gregor turned his head to the side in attempt to see what was going on but it was pitch black. He gave a loud click but couldn't make out much except for another bat which Lucia was riding. He gave another click with the same results, wait...no there was something else on the ground, running alongside them. Another click and then he realized, it was a rat! Gregor knew that there was only one rat that could run that fast, Ripred. Gregor was having trouble processing this. What was going on? Why were they here, where exactly was here. He thought about asking but it didn't seem like the right time.

After about half an hour he heard luxa whisper in a hushed voice. "I know you have many questions Gregor, they will al be answered in do time."

"Where are we?" Gregor whispered back.

"I do not know exactly, only that we are somewhere in the deadlands. We must be silent until we reach Regalia Gregor, we cannot alert anything of your presence here." she hoarsely whispered back.

The deadlands? Gregor remembered Vikus (an old man that had helped gregor through all four prophecies) saying something about there being 2 entrances to the Underland in the Deadlands. He also remembered that Vikus said that no one came out of it alive. All of them must have risked life and limb to be here.

Gregor tried to stay as quiet as he could for the rest of the trip. The flapping of the bat's wing were the only noise that could be heard. After an immeasurable amount of time he could see light of regalia reflecting off of the walls and ground. When the bats finally touched down gregor slid off the bat and onto the floor. His limbs were so stiff it took him a couple of minutes before he could bend his legs and stand up.

The second he did he looked up to see a fist flying at him. He sidestepped it, grabbed the arm and twisted it behind the back of the assailant. He flipped them around to see that it was howard!

"Howard? What are you doing." Gregor said to him. Just as the words left his mouth a dozen guards came around the corner, each one of them armer to the teeth.

"What's going on?" He said turning to luxa. She had her face buried into Lucia's shoulder and could not meet his gaze. He turned back to Howard.

"Gregor the Overlander, you are being placed under arrest as a unanimous decision of the council." he said solemnly. "Will you come peacefully Gregor?" he said looking at Gregor with a look of such sadness that he almost said yes.

"What? No,no I'm not coming peacefully. I didn't do anything." Gregor said.

" Gregor all will be explained in time but i would suggest you do as they say." said a garbled voice from behind them. The owner of the voice stepped out from behind the soldiers and presented himself. It was Vikus!

"Vikus, please, tell me what's going on here!" Gregor shouted. He was about to lose it.

" Gregor, please, for your sake, let them bind you. You will be escorted to your room and we will speak there. Not before." Vikus garbled. The right half of his face was totally limp from the stroke he had had on Gregor's last visit. The old man looked much stronger than he had but obviously there was some permanent effects.

Gregor studied his situation carefully. Usually he would have been able to take on the soldiers but he didn't have a sword and what came after that? He couldn't fight off every soldier in Regalia.

Gregor reluctantly gave in."Fine." he said through his gritted teeth. Just at that moment a rat that gregor recognized as ripred, bursted into the room. A few guards came over and put a pair of thick handcuffs around his wrists.

"So soon? I expected more of a fight from you, boy?" Ripred said pointedly at Gregor.

"Don't really have much of a choice now do I?" Gregor retorted. He wasn't in the mood for the rat or any of his unwelcome comments.

"I suppose not but still," he said, stretching himself over an elegant chair in the corner of the room. "I thought you'd have a little more to say on the matter."

"I do, but no one seems to want to tell anything about the matter." Gregor said in a mocking tone.

Before Ripred had time to respond Gregor was rushed out of the room and down a flight of stairs. After a few minutes of walking gregor was pushed into a small diamond shaped room with a roaring fireplace. Gregor realized that this was the room that he had been taken to except instead of a large bookshelf in the corner there was a small bed. This was the room that he had heard the news that his Dad was still alive. Gregor took a seat in a beautiful leather chair that had been placed in front of the fireplace.

Gregor sat there burning with fury. How could they arrest him? He hadn't done anything wrong. In fact, Gregor was the person that saved their entire species total annihilation.

When Vikus and luxa finally came in Gregor was ready to explode.

"What the hell is wrong with you guys?" he shouted. "I spent an entire year of my life down here, fighting for you people and this is how you repay me?" He held up his bound hands as a gesture. They looked shocked at his sudden outburst but he didn't care.

"Gregor." said luxa moving in, in an attempt to hug him. Gregor stepped back smacked her hands away.

"Don't touch me." he said. She was supposed to be the one person gregor could trust in the whole one person that he could always count on no matter the circumstance. But here he was.

Gregor looked at her and saw the absolute look of devastation spread across her face.

He watched a tear slowing slipped down her cheek and then onto the floor but she didn't speak. She took a few steps back to her place beside Vikus and they both stood there looking at him for a moment but it felt like a thousand years, then, vikus spoke up.

"Gregor we can understand you anger but there is something we must show you." he said as he pulled something out of the folds of his clothing and held it up to Gregor. He took it out of the old man's and realized that it was a scroll. Dread filled Gregor, like an icy sensation that started at the bottom of his feet and slowly worked its way up his body. There was another prophecy? No that couldn't be, he had fulfilled the last of Sandwich's damned prophecies! There was no way he was taking part in another war, the Underlands would have to kill him before he did that.

Gregor slowly opened the scroll and started to read the elegant handwriting upon it.

_The Prophecy of Grave_

_See the Warrior down below_

_What has he left to show_

_An all seeing eye covered up_

_With the hand of just a pup_

_Down we go, down we go_

_To the land down below_

_To the land where no one knows_

_Down we go, down we go_

_Keep his hands wrapped in steel _

_For if set free he shall reveal_

_What will destroy the Underland _

_Not by an Uderlander's hand _

_Back we come, back we come_

_To the land without sun_

_With just a barely speaking one_

_Back we come, back we come_

_What can save us from this scourge_

_Scarcely just a single word_

_The word of your fate will be decided_

_By the reaper's most desired_

_Up we go, up we go _

_From the land of war and woah _

_To the land of golden glow _

_Up we go, up we go_

_If the reaper's light is drained_

_Keep all your eyes on him, trained_

_Flame still lives inside this fortress_

_Extinguish it or relight your horrors._

Gregor looked up from the parchment, stunned.

"Did you know all this time that there was fifth prophecy?" he asked. The old man had kept many secrets from Gregor, he wouldn't put it past him to do something like this.

"No Gregor," said luxa "this prophecy is the work of Nerissa." she spat with obvious distaste.

"So that's it," he said, anger welling up inside of him. " after all I've done for you people you're ready to just lock me up and throw me in a dungeon because some girl had a dream about me destroying the Underland?"

"It is not that simple Gregor, she is believed to be a true visionary among many of the people. The prophecy you read is unfortunately wildly popular with the people and the council." Vikus said.

"Do you believe it?" Gregor asked luxa. " do you believe that I'm going to wage war on the Underland and single handedly destroy it?" Her face was full of sadness and confusion but she couldn't meet his gaze.

"I do not want to believe it. But i believe Nerissa is haunted with dreams of what is yet to come." she said sadly.

"Well what if she is just interpreting her dream wrong, or the prophecy isn't about me?" he said "You've got to believe me." he pleaded. "I would never hurt your people anymore than you would."

They both looked at him for a long time again. They just sat there pondering his fate as if he was some sort of toy. "Please." he said.

"I believe whatever you say as the truth." luxa said giving him a warm smile. He turned to vikus. It was hard to tell what the guy was thinking with half of his face paralyzed but Gregor could still the look of distress on his face.

"I believe you." Vikus finally said. "But the council will not be so easily persuaded Gregor, it took some doing just to spare your life." They had planned on killing him? Gregor had to put that aside for the moment.

"Well then we'll just have to find out what the prophecy really meant." Gregor said matter of factly. He plopped himself into the chair that sat in front of the now dying fire and read the prophecy over a few more times.

To his understanding, there was something coming, something that wasn't an underlander, and it had big plans to destroy the underland. gregor had no idea what else it could be. Everything that it said pointed to it being him. Or at least some overlander. He couldn't rap his mind around this, he just wanted to sleep. He had no idea how long it had been since he had been in the Underland. His family was probably having the police comb the area for him. Or maybe they had went straight to New York. thinking that they could get there before he did. He had no idea what he was going to do if his family came down here after him.

"Gregor." luxa said.

"Yeah, luxa?" he said standing up and taking her hands inside of his.

"There is something of great importance that i must show you." she whispered in a hushed voice so the guards couldn't hear. Gregor just now realized that Vikus had already left the room, he had been so absorbed in the new found prophecy.

"What is it?" Gregor asked.

"I can not speak of it hear, i must show you." she responded. This struck him as a little odd but didn't push it any further.

"How am i supposed to get out of the palace with everyone watching me so closely?" he said, giving the shadowy silhouettes of the guards a glance.

"What I must show you is already in the palace." she whispered. "We will get there using this." she held up a thick rope made of some sort of dried plant. Before Gregor had a chance to ask how that was going to help she had already thrown one side of the rope out of the window and tied the other end to a small stone hook in front of the fireplace which Gregor assumed was used to keep logs in place for future use.

"Okay, alright, I'm going to climb down the side of a building thousands of feet in the air on a rope, no problem." He thought to himself.

"Are you coming?" Luxa said. The only part of her that was visible was her head for she had already started to limb down the rope.

"Yeah." He managed to squeak out. He walked over the window and stuck his head out. Oh man, was he really going to do this? He knew he had to though not the exact reason. He slowly brought his leg up and over the side of the window and clutched onto the rope for dear life. Luxa had already made it to the window below him and was now standing there waiting for him. He didn't know where it came from but he willed his limbs to allow him to slip off the ledge and dangle from the rope. His chest was pounding and his breathing was very unsteady but he managed to slowly put one hand below the other. This was no easy task since his hands were bound with chains the underlanders had put on him, but in a few minutes, his feet felt the ledge of the window, just now realizing that he had had his eyes shut tight the entire time.

He stepped into the room and walked over to Luxa, who had her back turned to him.

"Where next?" Gregor said, putting a stiff hand on her shoulder.

"But a few more steps, Gregor, but you must be silent." she whispered. They crept out of the doorway and into the room just across the hall. Luxa stopped just as she entered and Gregor looked around the room. At first he didn't anything but then he saw it. Lying on the floor, weak and bloodied, was another Overlander.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone, sorry that it has taken me so long to get this next chapter out. It is not very long, but I will be posting more very soon. I am currently writing my first book caller The Shadower (the reason for the wait) and if any of you would like to beta read the first few chapters, please contact me at JesseDaviddennett at Gmail .com (will not let me leave link).Thanks so much for reading, hope you enjoy!**

Gregor stood there for a few moments, not knowing what to do, but know that his mind was brim filled with questions. How did another Overlander get down here? Who did this to him? Why was he chained to the wall like an animal? Nothing about it made any sense, but here it was. He turned to Luxa and opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off.

"He was spotted by a patrol almost a month ago, not long after Nerissa made her prophecy known. The council has decreed that he is the on the prophecy speaks of, and has kept him a secret from everyone except I and Dulcet." She said.

Dulcet? How did she get caught up in all of this? She was just a babysitter; not someone that would hold classified information like this, but Gregor would have to worry about that later.

"Why did you bring me here, Luxa." He said.

"Because I need you to have hope. Hope that you will not be convicted, and you will not destroy the Underland. Hope that this is all nonsense."

"And if he hadn't showed up I would have?" Gregor said, his temper rising. Why was it that everyone still put so much stock in the damn prophecies?! Sandwhich had been wrong, what's to say the Nerissa is any different. And even if Sandwhich hadn't been a fraud, Gregor had been willing to sacrifice his life and his family to save this city, and now because another prophecy is revealed, saying on Overlander will destroy them, they lock him up. Or at least they were going to try to.

Luxa's mouth opened to respond, but just as she was about to speak, the crumpled body on the let out a low moan. Luxa's gaze shot to the boy, as did mine.

We waited for a few moments but the boy did not make another noise, or any attempt to move. As Gregor stared at the boy he noticed that he couldn't have been much older than himself, maybe one or two years. His only coverings were a tattered pair of blue jeans, but his back and feet were both bare, and covered in bruises and his own dried blood.

"What did you do to him?" Gregor asked, not taking his eyes from the boy.

"I? What did _I_ do to him? Do you honestly think so little of me that I would torture an innocent boy, regardless of what Nerissa's prophecy says, I am not a monster." Her tone was constricted and the veins in her neck stood out as she spit the words at Gregor. He _had_ jumped to a conclusion. Luxa wasn't the kind of person to do such a thing, no matter how much time they spent apart, that would not change. It had just taken Gregor a moment to realize this.

"Luxa, I'm sorry," He said. "I was wrong to say that. I _am _sorry." He looked Luxa directly in those brilliant, violet eyes, and at that moment the weight of how much he had truly missed her crashed in on him.

His life had been so empty without her there to fill the gap that the Underland had left in it. Nothing had been the same since he had left. His life had begun to become pointless and just a series of things that got him through the day, just barely. But now that she was back in his life, it had begun to have some sort of meaning, though he wasn't quite sure why. All that he knew was that everything that had happened over the past three years could be undone in a single moment. But, unfortunately, it was not the time or the place for it.

Gregor pulled himself together just in time for Luxa to respond.

"It is fine. I am simply angry, at many things, but not one of them is you." She said with a warm smile. It took all the effort that Gregor had to not wrap his arms around her and never let go.

They both turn back to the boy, and he had still not moved from his crumpled state.

"Who did this?" Gregor said.

"The council had him questioned, but when he had said that he knew nothing of this place, or any of us, they did this." She said, gesturing to him with a delicate hand. Gregor noticed that the fingernails on the hand had been bitten short and were ringed with dried blood. Luxa must have been running the kingdom night and day trying to keep it in order, even if she wasn't quite of age to rule as queen, she still had the charisma and brains to run it like one.

"And he didn't know anything?" Gregor asked. Luxa shook her head slowly.

"It was all for naught, and the council insisted that this was the "Reaper" that the prophecy spoke of."

"And they don't anymore?" Gregor said.

"They still think it possible, but," She glanced at him with sorrowful eyes.

"Gregor I am sorry for bringing you here, I never should have… I just thought having you here would fix things, bring them together, but quite the opposite seems to have happened."

Gregor knew that Luxa had had the best of intentions in bringing him here. He trusted her with his life, and didn't believe she would do anything to put it in danger, as he would for her. But what had she thought was going to happen? He wasn't The Warrior now, he had no say in anything that went on in Regalia or anywhere in the Underland, and though most of the people might have been grateful for what he had done for them, the prophecy seemed to have easily swayed their favor. But there was no sense in regretting it now, not that he could ever regret spending a single second with the girl he loved.

Gregor opens his lips to speak, but before a word is said, the boy on the floor shuffles and lets out moan. Luxa is immediately at his side. The boy lifts his head and peers at the two of them, but his eyes lock on Luxa. He yelps and scurries away from her, a fear in his eyes that Gregor had never seen anything wear before him. He presses himself up against the far wall, his eyes not leaving Luxa.

"Stay away from me! I already told you I don't know anything about you damn city." A few tears slip from the boys eyes as he yells this, then buries his head between his knees.

Luxa stands and takes a step towards the boy. He doesn't seem to notice.

"I am not here to hurt you, you have have my word." She says. The boy lifts his head, his eyes red and streaked with tears.

"What?" He says.

"I promise to do you no harm. That is not why I have come." Luxa says.

"Then what the hell do you want?" He says, his face contorting with disgust. Luxa sighs and looks at Gregor. "May I introduce you to Gregor? He is an overlander, like yourself, he is also the warrior you may have heard mention of."

The boy looks at Gregor, his eyes searching him with obvious disdain.

"Doesn't look like much of a warrior to me." At this Luxa lets out a stifled laugh, obviously not meant to be heard. She turned to Gregor and looked him up and down.

"I suppose he may have become a bit lackluster in the past few years, but nonetheless, he _is _the warrior." Gregor rolled his eyes, but did not contradict anything she said.

"And what does he have to do with me. Are you guys here to break me out?" He says, his face lighting up with hope.

"Well, not exactly, but in a way. Now that Gregor is here, there is another suspect for who the Reaper may be, which means you will no longer be put through what you have been put through. I do apologize for the way you have been treated, if I had a say no such things would have happened."

"Who are you anyway? Some sort of queen?" He glances at Gregor.

"Yes, I am. I am queen Luxa, as a matter of fact." She smiles as she says this, enjoying speaking her rightful title, even if only in the presence of the boy and Gregor.

"You're joking, right?"

"I am sorry if you are disappointed, but it is true." Luxa says. The boy looks to Gregor, who nods in response.

"So what does a queen want with me, huh? If you're not going to get me out of here then why are you even here." The boy is beginning to get on Gregor's nerves at this point. The least he could do is show a little gratitude, but he supposed that the boy had been through a lot, but even then.

"That is difficult to explain, and I have little time to do it, but know this: you time here will some to and end soon, what you choose to do after that is of your own accord, but please, you must not tell a soul of what you have seen here." The boy looks over Luxa's face for a few moments.

"And why would I do that?" He says. Luxa deftly pulls a dagger from somewhere on her person that I had not noticed before, pins the boy against wall and the dagger against his neck.

"Because if you do not swear it right now, you will never have the chance to leave this place. Is that understood?" Gregor had never seen this side of Luxa before, one intimidating and completely fake simultaneously. But Gregor knows that she would never kill this boy.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" The boy yelped.

"At the moment it is you stubbornness. Now promise me." He voice is rising in intensity and volume

"But-"

"Swear it!" She shouts, her volume surprising even Gregor. A few moments pass, the boy simply sits still, his chest heaving.

"Okay, fine, I promise, just get the hell off of me." Luxa waits a few seconds, then releases the dagger and stands to her feet. "Do not let that be a lie." She says, sheathing her dagger.

Justs as she does this, voices come from the halling, loud and alarmed. Luxa looks at the door, then Gregor, then the boy.

"Tell no one that we were here, understood?" She says. The boy nods quickly, mortified of another threat on his life. Luxa nods and turns to Gregor. "We must leave."

They both sprint into the room across the hall and into the room across it. They move to the window. Luxa climbs through it and slides downward, presumably into the room below it. Gregor didn't where they were going, but the voices coming up the hall were growing in volume, so he quickly climbs through the window and begins to descend once more.


	4. Chapter 4

Gregor and Luxa slipped through the open window. Luxa led the way, carefully, from room to room, evading the guards. She must have known it was impossible for Gregor to climb back up, especially with bonds on his wrists. Gregor desperately wished he had stayed in his room. They had accomplished nothing in talking to the boy, unless a threat to his life counted for something, and if the Underlanders found that he had escaped so soon, and so easily, they would no doubt throw him in the dungeon. Gregor didn't think he could take that again.

Soon, they had arrived at the room though, and safely returned to their places in front of the fire.

"Why did you show me that?" Gregor questioned, stepping beside Luxa, whose eyes were fixated on the flames.

"I felt as if it would give you hope. That there still may be a chance of the council being wrong." She said in a low voice.

"Haven't they already made up their minds that he wasn't this Reaper?" Gregor asked.

"I honestly do not know what they think any longer. I used to know what my people thought. I could trust them. But since the day you left, they have become divisive creatures. I can't trust a thing they say, much less know what they are really thinking."

Gregor looked at Luxa for a moment, to really examine her. She was thin, much thinner than when he had left, and taller as well. Her skin had become much paler, almost like Nerissa's. Luxa also seemed to have contracted the same deep, purple half circles un her eyes. She looked awful. Still beautiful, but almost like a ghost of the women he loved. Gregor had never seen her act like that before. Maybe she had changed.

"So, if we don't know what they think, then what is our plan?" Gregor asked, as kindly as he could, but the words still felt like a taunt. Luxa didn't seem to mind.

"I have no plan, Gregor." She said coldly. What did that mean? She had brought him down here, giving the council a reason to think he was the one the prophecy mentioned, though they already seemed to have a sufficient suspect, without any sort of plan. Something was terribly wrong. Luxa was not a woman who went into something without a plan. She had been raised as a queen; to think quickly, wisely, and always have good reason for what she did. She had not always succeeded in this, but she would never risk Gregor life simply on a whim, would she?

"What would you like me to do then?" Gregor asked. Luxa turned to him, her moistened eyes glinting brilliantly in the light of the fire.

"I brought you here because I felt that having you close would help me. It would give me a solid ground to stand on in this place. I didn't want you to go, Gregor. You were the only person I had left in this world, and I know you had the best of intentions, but you abandoned me." A gentle tear eased down Luxa's cheek as she spoke.

"What about Vikus? And Ripred?" Gregor asked, not wanting to accept what she had said. Luxa returned his question with a choked laugh.

"Vikus does not speak to me most days. He resents me. He blames me for the death of Solovet. And as for my second bond—" she shook her head gently, biting her lip. "He spends most of his time filling the councils head with his ideas; plans for what regalia could be. I have given him authority that he never should have been near enough to smell. Yet now he sits higher than me. In my own city, Gregor."

He could see now. There was little that Gregor wouldn't do for Luxa, and she knew that. She knew he would stay in the Underland, to aid her.

"Luxa," He said, reaching a cuffed hand to wipe a tear from her cheek. "you could have just asked me. I thought something terrible had happened. That another war was starting or," He took one of her hands in his. "That something had happened to you."

At this, luxa began sobbing. She buried her head in Gregor's shoulder and wept. He leaned his head against hers, and wished more than anything that he could hold her. They stood there for several minutes, and Gregor immediately regretted every moment he had spent away from the Underland. He had been wrong, that there was no place for him. He found that his place was by Luxa's side, and he hated himself for not seeing that sooner.

"We will show them," he whispered. "that, whatever this prophecy means, I would never hurt you, or your city. And they will see who is really meant to lead it."

Luxa lifted her head, her eyes full of pitiful emotion, but she had stopped crying. Then, she leaned forward and kissed him. In that moment, Gregor knew just how much she had missed him. That she had not forgotten him, and that she still loved him. When she backed away though, her eyes were more troubled than ever.

"What's the matter?" Gregor said, taking a small step towards her.

"I have done something terrible, Gregor. And I fear that you might never forgive me for it." She said, tears springing back to life in her violet eyes.

"Luxa, nothing you could ever do will hurt me that bad." Gregor said, smiling, yet worried.

"Gregor, Nerissa's prophecy is not real. She did not dream or envision anything of what it said." Luxa said quickly. Why was this a bad thing. If anything, it was good. She must have had someway to prove this, and since she was the queen, she must have held some weight in the council. But, why hadn't she told him this sooner, or the council even?

"How do you know?" Gregor asked. Luxa stared up at him, looking as helpless as he had felt not half an hour ago. She turned away from him, staring back into the fire.

"Luxa, how do you know?" he said, stepping back beside her. She stared into the fire as she spoke.

"I promised Nerissa a seat at the council, when I become queen, if she would write a prophecy requiring you to come back to the Underland. I had no idea she would write such things. She had discovered our feelings for one another soon after, and she was displeased. She finds it disgraceful that I would ever care for an Overlander in such a way, and does not wish that you should ever hold any power within the palace. Still, I sent for you, hoping that the council would retain their suspicions of the boy." She paused. "I needed you, Gregor. And I know that does not right my wrong, but please."

Gregor couldn't listen any longer. She had set him up. She had brought him here, knowing he would be under suspicion, and risked his life. She knew the council wouldn't hesitate to imprison him. Luxa was many things, but she was far from stupid. How could she do this? Risk his life, his freedom, his family, and lie about another prophecy, just to get him back down here. It seemed that was all the Underlanders did. Trick him into coming back and getting tangled up in their messes, and he was left to solve them on his own. Not again. He would be used as some sort of tool, and then taken away from the things he cared about for their convenience.

Gregor turned and walked to the other side of the room. He stood next to the seat where Vikus had sat when he told him that his father was still alive. There seemed to be a different air about the palace, ever since he had arrived. Nothing was as it was before. Regalia, though it had it's criminals and hardships, used to seem as though it was the side the he should be on. Now, it felt as though he was deep in enemy territory, and he had led himself there.

"Why?" Gregor demanded.

"Because I need you to be with me Gregor. More than anything is this world, I need that."

"No," he snapped, turning back to her. "Tell me the truth." Luxa was offended at this.

"That is the truth. And it was the only way I knew to do it."

"Really?" Gregor knew there was something she wasn't telling him. "You tricked me into coming back down here, lied to me and to the rest of your city, let an innocent person get imprisoned and beaten half to death, all because you wanted to be with me?" He took a step closer to her. "What is it really Luxa? Did you want me to fight another war for you? Did you want me to be your pet so the council would respect you again. What is it?! Why am I here Luxa?" He was shouting now, and had walked back to Luxa, bearing down on her. She looked more pitiful than ever, but he didn't care. He didn't know if he could trust anything she said or did.

"No," she said, matching his tone through her small demeanor. "I knew the council would never wish you back here, not unless another prophecy arose. But Nerissa. She has twisted it. Made it something that I never intended it to be. It was wrong of me Gregor, but any suspicion of you is not my doing, I swear."

"How do I know? You seem to be fine with lying to the rest of them, and to me. You were supposed to love this city, and keep things like this from happening, but now you've let it be run by liars." He shook his head. "And it may just be that you've become one of them, Luxa."

Gregor could see that this truly hurt her, and the moment the words left his mouth, he knew they had been a mistake. Whatever wrong she had done, and however much he doubted his trust in her now, she could never be like the people that now ran this city. But it had been said, and the damage already done. Luxa backed away, towards the door. Just before she left:

"Maybe I do not love this city as I once thought I did. But I never doubted my care for you." She said. "Perhaps, in this, I was wrong."

And with that, she left Gregor alone. He hoped with all his might that what he said could be undone. She had wronged him, she knew it, and it may have been mostly out of her hands. It may not have been a wise decision, but she couldn't have meant any harm to come him. He knew that.

Gregor sat down in one of the stone chairs, pressed head against the cold metal around his hands which laid on the table, and wept.


End file.
